Chapter 12
Chapter 12: Beginnings, Middles, and Endings ..........................................................
In This Chapter
Discussing the importance of form
Beginning a piece of music
Mucking around in the middle
Ending with resolution
T
he fact that a good composition is like a good story, with a beginning, a
middle, and an end, is easy enough to tell in a song with lyrics. This is
especially true in folk songs, and especially folk ballads, which are most often
specifically written to tell a story. Consider Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Puff the
Magic Dragon,” which, if taken literally, tells the listeners about the relation-
ship between a boy and his dragon.This narrative property of music is universal and extremely important in
composition.Even instrumental songs can — and should — tell a story, too. In an instru-
mental piece of music, you have a clearly defined beginning that grabs your
attention and sets the overall tone of the songs, a middle that tells the story
of the song, and an ending designed to wrap up the story and end in cadence.
That may sound simplistic, but it really is how most music is structured,
whether you’re talking about a sonata, a folk ballad, or a punk anthem.Many times, instrumental songs are fitted to a poem or a set of lyrics. In the
end the words are simply removed by the composer with the intent that the
overall meaning of the words should still be conveyed by the music alone.
Many classical composers wrote music this way, including Johannes Brahms
and Ludwig van Beethoven. Brahms actually left the lyrics in many of his
compositions, only to have them performed, for the most part, as purely
instrumental pieces.